Aghhhhhh whyyyy???

My wordpress account has been horribly awry all day. I try to log on and pull up the blog and the text and images are all over the place.

Consider this my daily post. I hope it looks normal tomorrow.

New Site:

Don’t forget we are at www.seemommycook.com now!

 

Meatless Monday is now scheduled for Thursday this week

There are weeks when our meatless meals just do not happen on Monday. I try not to beat myself up about it. This week, we’ve been coasting on leftovers from the impromptu super bowl party held at our house. I had made a huge salad of spinach, fresh corn kernels, avocado chunks, green onions, cherry tomatoes, carrots, dried cranberries, feta, and a home made lemon garlic vinaigrette. It was so good that our friend Mike ate three bowls of it before he even touched the amazing chili that another friend had prepared.

We enjoyed steaming bowls of chili that my friend Paige had made from scratch–bursting with tomato and fresh veggies–and fragrant squares of green chili cornbread.

For dessert, I had prepared a Harvest Pear Crisp from Cooking Light Magazine that was out of this world and oh so perfect for the cold weather.  I had gotten a huge bag of pears from Costco and this was the perfect way to showcase them.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 6  cups  Anjou or Bartlett pears, cored and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices (about 3 pounds)
• 1  tablespoon  fresh lemon juice
• 1/3  cup  granulated sugar
• 1  tablespoon  cornstarch
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon, divided
• 1/3  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 3  tablespoons  chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3  cup  regular oats
• 1/4  cup  coarsely chopped walnuts

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine pears and lemon juice in a 2-quart baking dish; toss gently to coat. Combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add cornstarch mixture to pear mixture; toss well to coat.

Note: I got to use my food processor on this one! Joy! If you don’t have one, simply cut the butter into the flour using two knives or a pastry cutter –available at most grocery stores or kitchen stores.

I’ve done it for years and it works just fine….it just takes a few more minutes.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined. Add chilled butter; pulse 6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add oats and walnuts; pulse 2 times. Sprinkle flour mixture evenly over pear mixture.

Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until pears are tender and topping is golden brown. Cool 20 minutes on a wire rack; serve warm or at room temperature.

** I highly recommend serving warm. You can heat it in the microwave just before serving if necessary. It makes a difference!

So I will do my best to make up my mind what to prepare for Meatless…ahem…Thursday. It’s still freezing here in the southwest and I have custody of the cold that J and I have been passing back and forth for weeks. I think it might be soup!

We’re Moving!

Our new site is: Seemommycook.com

I hope that is the last time I will say that in reference to my blog….but once again, we’ve outgrown our space.

Over the past 3 years, I have enjoyed blogging about the joys of adoption and motherhood…but with the arrival of Leighton and my expanding interests in blogging about nutrition and our family I realized that “Mostly Morgan” isn’t really appropriate for us anymore.

It won’t just be about cooking! See mommy cook will still be about our family and day to day life…just a broader spectrum. I hope to grow with my cooking and photography and expand the blog to fit my vision.

We look forward to seeing you there! Please update your bookmarks I’ve still got at least one person that is reading us from the previous site–Travel 2 Morgan…c’mon already! Put the new address in!

xoxo

 

Snow Day! Otherwise known as one woman trapped in a house with two kids, a husband, and a dog who refuses to go outside to pee….

Leighton and Claire keeping warm during our second power outage of the day

Morgan is always happy for an excuse to stay in his jammies for an entire day.

I swear this kid would never get dressed if he could get away with it!

Preschool was closed yesterday, due to an entire inch of snow that covered our desert town. I swear people in the southwest are just not equipped for weather. J even got the day off when the hospital decided to close the operating room.  Of course, this wasn’t decided until after he had already driven to work! Got to love it when you drive half an hour on icy roads only to be told that it’s too dangerous for you to be out and that it’s time for you to get back into your car and drive home “for your safety.” GO Army!

The rolling power outages kept us on our toes. The first hit just as I was hoping to turn on the coffee pot. Morgan was hopping around near my feet like a demented toad demanding pancakes…No Power. No Coffee. No stove. No pancakes. I began explaining the consequences of a power outage–no Nickelodeon, No pancakes. Needless to say, the little guy appeared to take it personally.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief when J called my cell phone to let me know that he was on his way home…at least he could swing by Mickey D’s and pick up some pancakes and a frosty large diet coke for me as I don’t do unflavored (or non Starbucks for that matter!) coffee.

J made it home for breakfast in time to see the scene above in the living room. His wife and children sporting jammies and blankets and coats, huddled around our pitiful gas fire place in the dwindling heat. The power came on just as he arrived and it might have appeared melodramatic.

I turned on the coffee maker and popped the soda into the fridge, wondering why this week appeared like it would never STOP being impossible for me to eat healthfully in my never ending quest to lose the last mother freaking 12 lbs of baby weight that plagues me. As I chewed my sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle…I knew that I should be eating an egg McMuffin. Hell, chalk it up to survival mode. It was cold and I might need fat to survive the long day ahead.

We enjoyed power until lunch when it blacked out again. I began to see a theme. The gas fire place went out during the second outage. Not sure if it was the pilot light or the electric starter. Morgan had every single toy spread from one end of the house to the other. I couldn’t wash my hair because I was afraid that the hair dryer would be unavailable.  Claire did nothing to lighten the mood by pooping twice in the house. She refused to even step in the snow or attempt to go outside, so after that we left her in her crate. She was quite upset with us …

Sure enough, it blacked out AGAIN as soon as I opened the fridge to plan dinner. REALLY??

REALLY??

The stupid part was that we knew the power would be on and off. Why then, did we not have flash lights, candles, and food that could be accessible? I had a turkey breast in the fridge that would need to be cooked for HOURS. This was no good to us when we were on our 4th outage. So, Jeremy bundled up and tried to leave the house to get food. Unfortunately, our electric garage door had other plans. We thought about calling for pizza but no one answered when we tried. Meanwhile, my candle obsession paid off and I had the house lit by them time the power came on.

Jeremy rushed out of the functioning garage door and went back to McDonald’s. He had wanted to pick up frozen pizza and I stopped him. Good thing, because as soon as he got home and he put the food on the table, the house went black again.

The kids enjoyed eating by candlelight… even though the fine folks at Micky D’s forgot the hamburger for Morgan’s happy meal. Good thing his M.O. involves eating the fries and hoarding the toy.

After dinner the power came back on to stay and we enjoyed a peaceful night. I  never want to see a McDonald’s hamburger again.

 

Meatless Monday: Mujadarrah aka “lentils and rice with caramelized onions”

One of my memories of attending school in the north east is this fabulous middle eastern restaurant that sprung up in our small ocean town. The owner was proud of his fresh ingredients: zesty lemons, ripe cucumbers, delicious creamy hummus, and this fabulous dish of deep brown caramelized onions with lentils and jasmine rice. I used to drag my entire aerobics class to this place after a hard workout to feast on the mellow garlicky fare.

I found the recipe for Mujadarrah (spelled different ways in different cookbooks) in several of my vegetarian cookbooks and settled on Deborah Madison’s version.

Ingredients:

• 6 (yes, SIX) tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1.25 cups green lentils, rinsed
• 3/4 cup jasmine rice
• 1 quart water (I realized after making this that I would much prefer vegetable stock)
• salt/pepper

1. heat oil over medium flame in large skillet. Add onion and cook until brown and caramelized (12-15 min) stirring rarely. Too much stirring interferes with the browning process
2. meanwhile, add 1 quart salted water (or veg stock) to large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add lentils and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Add rice to lentils and add enough water to cover. Cover pan and simmer 15 more minutes–adding water if necessary until rice is tender.
4. Season with more salt and add pepper to taste.
5. Add 1/2 onions to lentils and rice and stir.
6. Serve garnished with remaining half of onions.

This recipe is so easy and so cheap! It is also delicious and full of fiber and heart healthy fat from the olive oil. I estimated that it provided 6 generous servings.

We served this with a bright green salad with lemon vinaigrette and lots of fresh parsley to keep the middle eastern flavor going. I also garnished with a mixture of marinated green and ripe olives and feta. You can hold the feta for a vegan dish.

We also toasted some Naan and enjoyed it with the meal.

Verdict? My favorite!! Jeremy thought it was so/so…he’s not a lentil fan. He did love the onions and had two helpings of the salad. Morgan tasted it but was more into his plate full of carrots and ranch. I wonder if it would work pureed for Leighton?!?

Feeding the Peeps

I’ve been on a roll this past week.

Using Annabel Karmel’s book as inspiration, I finally mustered up the courage to use my food processor and began making baby food.

I started with a simple blueberry rice cereal puree–I steamed 1/2 c blueberries for 3-4 minutes until the skins began to pop open. I then dropped them into the food chopper with 1/4c rice cereal and enough formula/breast milk to make a smooth puree.

Next, I moved on to frozen peas and then sweet potatoes. My sweet potato puree is so elegant and delicious that I think I may serve it for the holidays next year. I had to force myself to stop licking my immersion blender and fill up the baby food trays!

Cinnamon Orange Sweet Potato Puree

serves 2

1 med sweet potato, peeled and chopped

1 stick cinnamon

2-4 tbs fresh orange juice

• Steam the sweet potato with stick of cinnamon until tender, add fresh orange juice and puree

How simple is this??

She seemed to really like it…

So few things have made her happy while she’s teething.

Don’t worry, big brother and his friends had some fabulous food for their play date this week.

I’m going to leave you with a picture of Morgan over the weekend. He refused to get dressed and insisted on wearing his favorite Christmas jammies for two days straight. He buttoned them himself–looking like the long lost love child of Hugh Hefner and “Pigpen” from the Peanuts cartoons.

Note the crayon containers doubling as a drum set. These paper covered infant formula cans are giving new meaning to the word multi purpose!

Recharging

Yesterday was exactly what I needed.  I got the kids to school on time and spent the morning sorting through clothes getting ready for a garage sale in the spring. It felt productive and cleansing to see neatly folded shelves and to know that the outgrown items would be of use to somebody else.  It is incredible how much baby stuff gets accumulated in this first year.

Then, I had time for a quick shower and in keeping with my new year’s resolution to “De frump!” I took the time to roll my hair and put on something fabulous in time to pick up Leighton from school and meet two of my wonderful girlfriends for lunch.  My friend L treated us to fabulous gourmet “Bento Style” lunches– butternut squash soup with candied bacon and chevre, seared ahi tuna, mixed greens, zucchini strings and garlicy aioli finished with a yummy little butterscotch bar that was just the right size for something sweet without feeling like we needed to go for a run afterwards.  We laughed until we had tears in our eyes, taking turns passing my little crabby patty who is teething and refusing to nap.

Next, we checked out a boutique in our area that is known for fabulous finds. We all totally lucked out in the sale racks! L and I got designer jeans that were normally 188.00 for $46.00. SCORE! S got a beautiful sweater for a steal. The sales ladies fell in love with the L Bug, passing her around and showing her all of the pretty sparkly things. They said “que hermosa!!” and put my little princess on a pedestal (literally) in front of a three way mirror and laughed while she waved her chubby little arms and “talked” to the beautiful girl in the mirror.

Then it was time to pick up our kiddos from preschool and we all headed home. It was such a wonderful way to recharge before the weekend.

Sleep Deprived

We haven’t slept much this week. Teething and toddler resistance have made for a very long week.

Here’s hoping that next week’s blogging is better. I’m looking forward to getting a bit of rest this weekend and cocooning up in the house. My agenda includes a pot of black bean soup and some long walks with the family.

See you on the other side

Meatless Monday: couscous and chickpea pilaf

So I’m sipping a beer and chastising myself for not blogging for so long…it’s been a busy few days.

We took a weekend road trip to Cloudcroft, NM and stayed at a haunted hotel called The Lodge. I scared myself silly listening to the bartender tell crazy tales of the red-headed ghost, Rebecca, that haunts the place. I ended up scanning our hotel room every few minutes all night long…looking for any evidence of the  supernatural. We’d been told that a couple left in the middle of the night because the ghost was offering chocolate to their child while sitting on his bed. EEK!

I sat up googling on my phone and found numerous sightings of this particular ghost–including a few that occurred in our room. Let’s just say I didn’t see anything…nor did I get any sleep.

The Lodge was truly lovely, though. The staff was great with the kids and the restaurant was awesome. I just wish that my imagination and fears hadn’t run wild!

We cleaned out the crisper drawer for Meatless Monday and ended up with a keeper.

I’m calling it Green Couscous Pilaf with lemon Dijon vinaigrette.

Ingredients:

1 cup couscous

1 cup vegetable broth or 1 cup water and 1 veggie bullion cube

1 english cucumber, peeled and chopped

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 c chopped red onion

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

2 broccoli crowns, chopped and steamed

Feta Cheese (crumbled) ***optional

1/4 c chopped fresh dill

Dressing:

1 lemon–zested and juiced

2 Tbs dijon mustard

1/3 c olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp all purpose seasoning (I used trader joe’s every day seasoning, but I think any mix you like would work here)

2  cloves garlic, pressed

1/3 cup water

Instructions: Prepare couscous according to package directions, using broth for water.  Place prepared couscous in fridge to chill while chopping/prepping the remaining ingredients.

In large bowl, combine chopped veggies, steamed and cooled broccoli, beans, and cooled couscous with chopped dill

For dressing: using wisk or hand blender, emulsify ingredients and pour over top of salad. Stir gently to combine.

Chill 1 hour to allow flavors to combine. Stop here for a vegan dish or garnish with feta cheese.